Safety device for addressing-machines.



J.S.DUNCAN-, SAFETY DEVICE FOR ADDRESSING MACHINES.

3 SHEETS-SHEET I-.

Patented May 23, 1916.

J. S. DUNCAN. SAFETY DEVICE FOR ADDRE$SING MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED MAR-23. I912.

Patented May 23,1916.

3 SHEETSSHEET 2.

L S. DUNCAN.

- SAFETY DEVICE FOR ADD NG M. INES.

- APPLICATION FILED 3,1

1,164,433. Patente ay 23,1916.

ETS-SHEET 3.

Ma -5596. n 7922211 snares JOSMEI S. DUNCAN, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS,

ASSIGNQH T0 ADDRIFASSOGMPH COMPANY,

OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

SAFETY DEVICE FOR ADDRESSING-MACHINES.

To all'whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Josnrrr S. DUNCAN, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Safety Devices forAddressing-Machines, of which thefollowing is a specification;

This invention relates to addressing Inacliines in general and moreparticularly to safety devices therefor, designed to prevent the fingersof the operator from becoming crushed or pinched beneath the platenduring the operation of the machine.

@ne of the primary objects of the present invention is the provision ofa safety device adapted to stop the operative movement of the platen armand the platen carried thereby in case the fingers, or some otherforeign object, become accidentally caught beneath the platen on itsdownward or printing stroke and to provide a device of this characterwhich will be simple in construction and delicate and reliable in,operation.

The invention will be best understood by reference to the followingdescription when considered in connection with the accompanying drawingsillustrating one preferred embodiment thereof.

Referring to the drawingsFigure 1 is a plan view of so much of theaddressing machine, as is necessary tothe understanding of my presentinvention, equipped with my improved safety device; Fig. 2 is a sideelevation of the mechanism shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a front elevationof'the mechanism shown in Figs. 1' and 2; Fig. 4 is a sectionalviewtaken substantially on the line H of Fig. 1 and Fig. 5 is asectional view taken on the line 55 of Fig. 1..

On the drawings in which like numeral references designate correspondingparts in the several figures, 11 designates the platen arm carried by ahorizontal Shaft 12 which is mounted in the frame 13 in a well knownmanner. The platen 14 carried on the free end, of the platen arm 11 isprovided with a facing 15 of rubber, felt or other suitable material andis fastened in a frame 16 secured on the end of the platen .arm by ascrew-holt 1.7. Thesenvelops or other 11031; to be printed, are placedin succession upon" the tsfble 'or plateI18 pivoted to the frame tf themachine at19. The printmg'device Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed March 23, 1912.

Patented May 23, 1916.

Serial No. 685,814.

and the inking ribbon (not shown) are fed to printing position by theusual mechanism and the platen arm is oscillated about the shaft 12 tobring the platen 14 into engagement with the work positioned on thetable 18 by suitable mechanism which it is unnecessary to describe inthis application. The platen is adjusted on the platen arm by adjustingscrews 21 in the usual manner. All of the aforementioned mechanism andits method of operation is well known to those skilled in the art and,therefore, it is believed that the foregoing brief reference to theseparts will be suflicient. In this particular type of machine theenvelops, or other matter to be printed, are placed in printing positionbneath the platen and withdrawn therefrom, after the printing, by handand it sometimes happens'that the operators fingers are caught beneaththe platen on its downward stroke. Since the platen is lowered intoprinting position with considerable force, it will be obvious that theoperators fingers may be pinched beneath the platen very seriously.

My present invention, which is designed to stop the downward movement ofthe platen in case the fingers of the operator become accidentallycaught beneath the platen, is constructed in the following manner: Atripper yoke 22 is pivotally mounted upon the cars 23 projectingupwardly and rearwardly from the platen frame 16, said yoke havingforwardly extending arms 24 and 25 and an upwardly extending arm 26 towhich one end of the connecting link 27 is attached. The tripper properconsists of a transversely extending bar 28 suspended in front of theplaten by arms 29 and 30 pivotally mounted on the yoke arms 24 and 25.The rear end of the tripper arm 30 is extended rearwardly of its pivotalconnection with the arm 25 to form the extension 31 and, a light coiledspring 32 is positioned beneath this extension 31 and the arm 25, tonormally hold the tripper 28 against the forward face of the platen, inthe position shown in Figs. 2 and 4. It will be obvious, therefore, thata pivotal movement of the tripper on its' yoke is permitted, so that incase the operators fingers are caught beneath the platen they may bewithdrawn without being scraped or injured-by thetripper, since thetripper ,bar' will swing outwardly away from the platen asthe fingersare jerked away. The spring 32 will normally retain the tripper barclose to the from being platen as shown. The pivoted mounting of thetripper yoke on the ears 23 permits the yoke and the tripper mountedthereon to swing as a whole on the yoke pivots which movement, it willbe apparent, permits the tripper bar 28 to move up and down relativelyto the platen. Should the fingers of the operator be positioned beneaththe platen on its downward movement they will first be struck by thetripper-bar 28 which will move upwardly relatively to the platen fromthe rod 27 and at its other end to a boss 38 projecting from the arm 33holds the rod 27 and the arm 33 in cooperative relation and prevents theend of the rod wlthdrawn' from the socket in the arm 33. A second.tension spring 39 is secured at one end to a boss 40 projecting adaptedto engage,

platen arm against further forward and from the opposite side of the arm33 and at its other end to a pin 41 fixed to the platen arm. This springnormally tends to draw the arm 33 forward so thatthe tripper will beyieldingly held in the normal position shown in the drawings and theratchet dog 35 will be held in elevated position against the stop pin42. A ratchet bar 43 is pivotally connected to the main frame 13 at 44and projects forwardly and adjacent the arm 11 just beneath the ratchetdog 35. The ratchet bar is provided near its free end with ratchet teeth45 forming in efi'ect an un-- which the dog 35 is yielding stop withthereby locking the downward movement about the" shaft 12 and preventingthe platen from being depressed against the table 18.

The operation of my device is briefly as follows: During the normaloperation of the machine .the parts are held in the position shown inFig. 2 by thecontraction spring 39 so that the dog 35 travels idly abovethe ratchet teeth on the bar 43 and the platen is depressed intoprinting position at each oscillation of the platen arm. Should thefingers of the operator, however, be accidentally positioned in the pathof the downwardly moving platen they will be engaged first by thetripper bar 28 by reason of the inclined position of the fingersoccasioned the inclination of the table 18.

The tripper are the yoke upon which it \isarm 11. and has fixed to itsouter path of the platen memberdirvin mounted are quite delicatelymounted so that as soon as the tripper bar engages the fingers I thetripper is raised relatively to the platen, the yoke is oscillated onits pivot, whereupon the connecting rod 27 pushes rearwardly upon the,arm 33 to rock the shaft 34 and depress,'the forward end of the ratchetdog 35 into engagement with one of the ratchet teeth on the bar 43.Since the bar 43 is fixed #to the main frame 13 the interlockingengagement of the ratchet dog 35 with the ,bar prevents further forwardand downward movement of the platen arm.

.will" thus be seen that the movement of the platen is arrestedimmediately upon contact of the tripper with any foreign object beneaththe platen and that the platen will be locked against further movementuntil the object has been withdrawn and the ratchet dog has beenreleased from engagement with the ratchet bar 43.

It is believed that my invention and its mode of operation will beunderstood from the foregoing without further description and, while Ihave shown and described a preferred embodiment of'my invention, it willbe obvious that various changes construction and arrangement of themechanical elements/or their equivalents may be'resorted to Withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention or sacrificing any of thematerial advantages thereof.

I claim:

1. In a printing machine, a platen having a reciprocatory printingstroke, and means actuated by a nobstruction in the t automaticallyinstantaneously and posi lvely stop the printing stroke of the platen.

2. In a printing machine, a platemhaving a reciprocatory printingstroke, and means to automatically instantaneoily and positively stopthe printing stiyake of the platen, said means including atrippercarried by the platen and disposed for engagement with an obstruction inthe path of the platen.. V p

3. In an addressing machine, a swinging platen armgai-pjiatencarriedthereby, a stop U het teeth, a dog carried by the plat miffor engagementwith the ratchet teeth" the member, means to hold thedogout-ojfi'coiiperative relation with thefiiratchetf th ofthe stopmember, t pper 1 1a ir s lthar and disposed for engagementfifjwith'-.a;n -obstruction in the in the path of the tripper, and meanscontrolled by the tripper for moving the dog into cooperative relationwith the ratchet teeth to stop the printing stroke of the platen arm.

4. In a safety device for addressing machines, the combination of aplaten arm, a tripper carried thereby, a ratchet bar disposed adjacentthe platen arm, a dog mounted on said arm, and connections between saiddog and said tripper whereby upon actuation of the tripper the dog isengaged with the ratchet bar to' stop the movement of said platen arm.'a

.5. In a safety device for addressing machines, the' combination of a Ilaten arm, a platen carried thereby, a trifi percarried by said armadjacent the platen, a stop, a

dog pivotally mounted on said platen arm,

and connections between said dog and said tripper whereby upon actuationof the tripper the dog will be brought into operative engagement withsaid stop to prevent further movement of the platen arm.

6. In a safety device for addressing machines, the combination of aplaten arm, a

platen carried thereby, a tripper pivotally I mounted adjacent saidplaten, a stop, a dog mounted on said arm, connections between said dogand said tripper whereby the dog will be brought into operativeengagement with said stop upon actuation of the tripper, and means forreturning said dog to normal inoperative position. I

7. In a safety device for addressing machines, the combination of aplaten arm, a

platen carried thereby, a tripperyoke pivotally mounted on said arm, atripper pivoted to said yoke so as to be capable of movement relativelyto said platen, a dog mounted on the platen arm, a ratchet bar topics ofthis patent may be obtained for disposed adjacent the arm, and operativeconnections between said tripper yoke and dog whereby the dog is broughtinto operative engagement with said ratchet bar to stop the-movement ofthe platen arm upon actuation of the tripper. I a

8a In a printing machine, the combination of. a platen arm having areciprocatory printing stroke, a platen mounted thereon, a trippercarried by the platen arm and adapted to engage with an obstruction inthe-path of the platen, and means actuated by said tripper to positivelyand instantaneously stop the printing stroke of the platen arm;

9. In a printing machine, the combination of a platen arm having areciprocatory printing stroke, a platen mounted thereon, a trippercarried by the platen arm and adapted to engage with an obstruction inthe path of the platen, astop and a dog mounted on the platen arm andactuated by said tripper to engage said stop to positively andinstantaneously stop the printing stroke of the platen arm.

10. In a printing machine, the combination of a frame, a platen armpivotally mounted in said frame, a platen mounted JOSEPH s. DUNCAN.-

Witnesses WM. F. BELT,

IRA J. WILsoN,

five cents each, by addressing the Gommisstoner of Patents, Washington,D. E."

